Some times the frustration of malfunctioning equipment is somewhat offset in interesting ways.

This video was taken while troubleshooting a sputtering system at the Micro/Nano Technology Center. Sputter is a method of depositing thin films which uses a high voltage, DC in this case, power supply to generate an Argon plasma. The kinetic energy if the Argon ions is used to "break off" piece of the target material which are deposited on the experimental substrate.